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Riots show why the happiness agenda is vital

09 Aug 2011 | Mark Williamson

In the aftermath of last night's riots in London and other
cities across the UK, people are shocked and angry. The images of
burning buildings and streets in ruin are more like scenes from a
disaster movie than something you'd expect to see in a prosperous
country like the UK in 2011. There are far more questions than
answers.

Although the chaos may have initially been triggered by a police
shooting in North London, it now seems obvious that last night's
rampage was more a case of mindless violence and opportunistic
looting than a calculated response to a specific incident. I
suspect very few of the masked youths marauding last night would
even know the name of Mark Duggan, whose shooting triggered the
initial violence in Tottenham. Two images for me today highlight
the depths to which the rioters sunk: firstly there was the footage
of the injured youth having things stolen from his backpack as he
lay bleeding and semi-conscious; secondly there were the pictures
of a charity shop having had its windows broken. Both were vivid
examples of the senseless and callous nature of the rioting.

So what on earth does any of this tragic and inexplicable
behaviour have to do with happiness? At a time like this people are
rightly calling for a focus on security, law enforcement and
justice. These events have undoubtedly caused much unhappiness, but
surely how happy people feel should be the last thing on our minds
right now? Well, of course the immediate priority must be on
keeping people safe and preventing further outbreaks of violence.
But if we stop to look at what might be the underlying drivers of
this behaviour, many of these lead back to issues at the heart of
the happiness agenda which Action for Happiness is focused on.

Let's revisit the big picture. Over the last few decades we've
seen unprecedented increases in average incomes and living
standards but this hasn't been matched by a corresponding increase
in average life satisfaction. The reasons for this are complicated
but, in short, by building a socio-economic system that promotes
self-centred materialism as the route to economic progress, we've
exacerbated inequalities and created a culture that brings out the
worst in human nature. It's a culture that puts possessions and
individual success before people and communities. It's why the
percentage of people in the UK who say that "most other people can
be trusted" has tumbled from 60% to 30% since 1970.

This culture has also contributed to the big problem at the
heart of this weeks riots: a generation of disillusioned and
disengaged kids that feel that they don't have any stake in
society. People who mindlessly attack their own local areas have
clearly lost any sense of connection to their communities. And when
they place more value on looting consumer electronics and designer
trainers than the safety and livelihoods of their own neighbours,
it suggests a culture with it's priorities all wrong. As one
commentator noted on Twitter: "The Youth of the Middle East rise up
for basic freedoms. The Youth of London rise up for a HD ready 42"
Plasma TV".

Our young people are bombarded with messages showing success and
happiness tied up in money and possessions. Yet for those at the
bottom of the pyramid these things are simply out of reach. As they
watch the rich and powerful growing in prosperity, the promised
"trickle-down" effect of economic progress has largely failed to
reach them. While not necessarily worse off in real terms, they are
undoubtedly worse off in relative terms, which matters deeply at
the psychological level. As the inequality gap has grown so has
their anger at a sense of unfairness and the feeling that they're
worthless in the eyes of our leaders and wider society. Some local
commentators have said today that this was a "riot waiting for an
excuse to happen" and to some extent I think that's true. When you
feel you've got nothing, then you've got nothing to lose from
lashing out.

Of course the current economic situation obviously contributes
to the problem: the financial crisis and the largest cuts in public
services for generations are causing many people great hardship and
uncertainty. But the underlying factors run deeper than this.

Ultimately, many of the problems with disengaged teenagers can
be traced to broken families and parents who are themselves
ill-equipped to raise happy, thriving children. Many of these
disaffected young people grow up without the essential ingredients
for their well-being: unconditional love and clear boundaries. The
absence of these emotional and behavioural building blocks was very
evident on our streets last night: a complete lack of empathy for
those whose livelihoods they were wrecking; and a total lack of
understanding of the personal consequences of their actions.

A focus on emotional factors like love may seem naive at a time
of such fear and anger. But there is a now very strong body of
evidence linking secure attachment and emotional intelligence in
early years to positive life outcomes, including better academic
achievement as well as lower likelihood of involvement in criminal
activities. Rather frighteningly there is also evidence showing
that children who grow up without feeling loved and securely
attached tend to place a much higher value on material possessions
as a source of fulfilment. This is desperately sad as no Wii
console or iPhone can ever make up for an absent or abusive parent.
But perhaps it partially explains the shocking thirst for looting
products which we saw last night.

Let me be very clear; what I've said here in no way condones the
unacceptable aggression we've seen on our streets. Violence solves
nothing. But we all need to look inwards and accept that all of us
have some responsibility for creating the culture that has made
this level of disengagement and anger possible. We need to reassess
our priorities and pursue a fundamentally different way of life
where we care less about what we can get for ourselves and more
about the happiness of others. That is the only route to lasting
fulfilment. At the heart of the happiness agenda is a passion to do
everything we can to address unhappiness in the world around us,
whether that comes from poverty, depression, inequality or
disaffected youth.

Yes government needs to do more; yes criminals need to be
brought to justice; but at the same time we all need to be the
change we want to see in the world. An inspiring example of this
attitude today has been the hundreds of ordinary people all over
the country who have united together to clean up last night's mess
and start the process of rebuilding their communities. Let's use
this tragic and frightening turn of events to start a process of
realigning our values and putting a greater focus on equality and
the happiness of those around us, especially those at the margins
of our society.